2009

Spektor's light-hearted, nonconformist approach to music helped create a rabid fan base and has certainly upped the anticipation for her new album. A personality seemingly less concerned with success and more consumed in the creative process, Spektor returns with the release of Far.

Back and Fourth marks the fourth studio album from singer-songwriter Pete Yorn, and his first since Nightcrawler in 2006. No doubt an important point in his career, the new album witnesses Pete letting go of responsibilities to which he'd become accustomed and writing perhaps the most personal songs of his career.

Ryan Bingham's sophomore effort, Roadhouse Sun, picks up where his debut album, Mescalito, left off. A strong set of southwestern country songs, Roadhouse Sun speaks to Bingham's life experiences, his trials and convictions.

Who would've imagined that a collection of songs, written and produced by a college student as a belated Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend would've launched a music career? Well, for Emerson College undergrad Michael Angelakos his six song EP not only served as an overdue present for a loved one, but it launched the career of the yet-to-be realized band Passion Pit. In fact, demand for the EP entitled, Chunk Of Change, grew so quickly around the campus that the rise of Passion Pit seemed inevitable.

One of the year's most anticipated releases, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, witnesses a relatively young band take to the studio with a veteran-like attitude. The feverish pitch of anticipation from bloggers and faithful fans alike is answered in an album that is meticulous in its production and lavish in its overall sound.

Abnormally Attracted To Sin, the tenth studio album from Tori Amos is a sprawling, ambitious effort plentiful in its results. The seventeen song collection is clearly a creative outpouring that is seemingly unrestrained by any theme or narrative.

There's that cliché about putting the "bounce back in your step. Well, after recruiting the Austin-based rock band Relentless7 to join forces, Ben Harper not only put the "bounce back in his step," but he refueled with a group of musicians that take his highly emotional songs to an explosive level.

With thirty-three studio albums now to his credit, Bob Dylan continues to offer songs with the richness and depth to which we've all been accustomed. His latest album, Together Through Life is a 10 song collection, a majority of which were co-written with Robert Hunter and self-produced by Dylan, under his alter-ego Jack Frost.

With her timeless voice, Melody Gardot offers an enchanting collection of jazzy originals with the release of her new album My One And Only Thrill. The Philadelphia native flourishes both as a singer and songwriter, upholding an assuredness that matches the elegance for which the album aspires.

Peter Bjorn & John whistled their way into our ears just a couple years ago with their unavoidable single "Young Folks." And while their album Writer's Block was actually the trio's third album, all the symptoms of the dreaded "one-hit wonder" were beginning to loom. Well, fast forward to the present, and the release of Living Thing which sets out to prove that Peter Bjorn & John do in fact have a few more infectious offerings for us.